F0727 F727: Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
F

Failure to Provide 8 Hours of Consecutive RN Coverage

Helia Healthcare Of NewtonNewton, Illinois Survey Completed on 02-21-2025

Summary

The facility failed to provide 8 hours of daily Registered Nurse (RN) coverage, which has the potential to affect all 36 residents residing in the facility. The Administrator, identified as V1, acknowledged that there were shifts without the required 8 hours of RN coverage. V1 mentioned that the Director of Nursing, V2, had been working weekends to ensure RN coverage, but on one occasion, V2 left the facility for several hours before returning, resulting in non-consecutive RN coverage hours. V1 was unaware that the RN coverage hours needed to be consecutive. A review of the nursing schedules for December 2024, January 2025, and February 2025 confirmed the lack of consecutive RN coverage on several dates. Specifically, on December 7, 2024, only four hours of RN coverage were provided, and on December 8, 2024, only two and a half hours were covered. Additionally, on December 21 and 22, 2024, only five hours of RN coverage were documented. The facility's policy requires scheduling a registered nurse for 8 consecutive hours each day, which was not adhered to, as evidenced by the employee timecard showing non-consecutive hours worked by V1 on February 16, 2025.

Penalty

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.

Resources

Below are regulatory guidelines relevant to this citation:

See other F0727 citations
Failure to Maintain Required RN Coverage
F
F0727 F727: Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
Short Summary

Failure to Maintain Required RN Coverage: The facility did not have an RN in the building for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week on multiple dates. Administrative Nurse D verified that no RN was present for the required coverage or serving as charge nurse on those dates, despite the facility policy requiring daily RN coverage and a full-time DON.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Maintain Required RN Coverage
E
F0727 F727: Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
Short Summary

Failure to Maintain Required RN Coverage: The facility failed to ensure an RN was on duty for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week on multiple reviewed days. Daily HR reports showed zero RN hours worked on several dates, and both the DON and ADM stated they could not explain why RN coverage was absent, while acknowledging the requirement for daily RN coverage and the administrator's responsibility for staffing.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
RN and DON Coverage Not Maintained
F
F0727 F727: Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
Short Summary

RN and DON Coverage Not Maintained: The facility failed to ensure an RN served as DON on a full-time basis and failed to maintain RN coverage for at least eight consecutive hours each day. Staffing schedules, timecards, and staff interviews showed no RN worked on two days and no DON was present for several days. Interviews also confirmed the DON coverage was intermittent, with one RN serving only on limited days and another stating she had no documentation showing she worked in the facility after the prior DON left.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Lack of Documented Daily RN Coverage
F
F0727 F727: Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
Short Summary

Lack of Documented Daily RN Coverage: Surveyors found that the facility did not have documented RN coverage scheduled for at least 8 consecutive hours per day, 7 days a week. Review of staffing postings showed multiple days without the required RN coverage, and the ANHA stated there were no other documents available to verify RN coverage. No policy was provided by the end of the survey.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
RN Coverage Not Maintained
F
F0727 F727: Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
Short Summary

RN Coverage Not Maintained: The facility failed to ensure RN services for at least 8 consecutive hours per day, 7 days a week. Time records showed missing RN coverage on multiple days, and the DON and ADM acknowledged that RN staffing hours were absent at times. The facility policy required RN coverage and allowed DON hours to count toward the requirement.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
RN Coverage Not Maintained as Required
F
F0727 F727: Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
Short Summary

RN Coverage Not Maintained as Required: The facility failed to maintain RN coverage for at least 8 consecutive hours per day. Record review showed multiple days with no RN in the building within a 24-hour period and other days with less than 8 consecutive hours of RN coverage. Interviews confirmed the Staffing Coordinator and DON leadership understood the coverage expectation differently, and the facility sometimes relied on an on-call RN to come in if issues arose.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Citation search

Search every citation & Plan of Correction

Go to search
Citation watch

Track new serious citations across Illinois

Get a heads-up on the newest immediate-jeopardy (J–L) citations in Illinois — where surveyors are focused right now.

Free · about one email a month

Trusted data from CMS and state health departments

Every citation, penalty and Plan of Correction is sourced from public CMS records (latest release July 29, 2026) and official state health department websites — never guesswork.

In your survey window? See what surveyors are citing.

The Survey-Prep Report maps your facility's risk from 12 months of CMS and state citation data — what's being cited around you and what to check first. $129 one-time.

Get the Survey-Prep Report
An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙